Author
Topic: Spencer Duhm (Read 15748 times)

Age:19College SophomoreLakeland, FLTribe: JalapaoSoon to see his teenage years in the rear-view mirror, Spencer Duhm is ready to look forward to the journey ahead of him. A fan of SURVIVOR since day one, which began when he was still in grade school, Spencer can practically do a Castaway roll-call all the way from SURVIVOR: Borneo. His fanaticism will give him a built-in edge that can make a direct contribution to how far he goes in this game.

Born and raised in Lakeland, Florida and currently a student at the University of Florida, Spencer majors in telecommunications and minors in business and European union studies. Aside from being the recruitment chair for his UF crew team, where he also rows competitively, Spencer is a huge sports fan. Involved in myriad athletic activities since age 7, Spencer has developed a strong competitive streak and determination to achieve success. Rooting for his college Gators or beloved Cubs familiarized him with all of the peaks and valleys associated with being a contender, which may help him navigate the ups and downs associated with castaway life.

With a resume like his, it’s no surprise that this self-professed lover of "water cooler gossip" can't stand slow-talkers or laziness and is very ambitious and very outgoing. He is even willing to face his fear of heights for one million dollars but there is one fear that he refuses to face. When asked what he would not do for a million dollars he responded, "Snakes in general, I just don’t do snakes." This young, goal-oriented man has been presented with his childhood dream of competing on his favorite reality show and truly feels that he has what it takes to become the next sole SURVIVOR .

Spencer is a gay, single man and currently resides in Gainesville, Fla. His birthday is December 20.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Survivor China winner Todd Herzog and the youngest Survivor cast member ever, Spencer Duhm, are dating.Todd confirmed the relationship in an e.mail to After Elton, saying he met the Survivor Tocantins cast member “about a month before his season began” last fall and said, “I was attracted to him the moment I saw him, mainly because he’s got this confidence that pours out of him and a piercing stare that you can’t help but notice so I went ‘fishing’!”During our conversation in Brazil, which happened after they initially met, Spencer talked about Todd and praised his game play but dissed him when he was talking about not wanting to appear like previous gay cast members (“I won’t be Todd”).Although Todd told After Elton that they are “doing the ‘take it slow’ thing which I find to be really nice,” he also said “we are planning a huge trip this summer.” Spencer is spending spring break with Todd: “he’s coming to stay with me all next week, and I with him next month,” Todd said, and it’s UF’s spring break this week.The reality TV world is ridiculously incestuous so Todd and Spencer are are far from the first Survivor couple—there’s Ethan and Jenna, Rob and Amber—and Jeff Probst also dated a cast member, Julie Berry. Nor are they the first gay couple, as Brad and JP dated during Cook Islands. The CBS show has a much better track record with creating lasting relationships

Exclusive Interview: Spencer Duhm, from 'Survivor: Tocantins'Friday, March 13, 2009 It's hard to believe that Spencer Duhm didn't kind of get screwed last night on Survivor: Tocantins. Is one sub-par challenge performance enough reason to vote a person out of your tribe? If your tribe is Jalapao, then this appeared to be the case. However, as is constantly the case with Survivor, last night's episode didn't tell the whole story. According to Spencer, who we had the chance to speak with this morning, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than the viewing audience was privy to. That's fine - CBS is working with time constraints and have to tell the best narrative available. However, Jalapao has been portrayed as a go-with-the-flow tribe, filled with likable characters lacking in strategery. Spencer claims this is absolutely not the case. Read/listen to the below interview to find out why.

Remember the first time you saw “Survivor?” Odds are it involved Richard Hatch running around in the buff, Sue Hawk cursing, or Greg Buis talking into a coconut. The latest “Survivor” castaway remembers this…but he was only ten years old when it happened…

We sat down with 19-year-old Spencer Duhm the day after he was voted out of “Survivor: Tocantins.” We had a chance to discuss JT’s tooth, Jeff Probst’s evil prank, and the truth behind the all-male alliance that we never saw.

Gordon Holmes: So, what happened last night?Spencer Duhm: I embarrassed myself on national TV! I’m kidding, they voted me off for strictly challenge reasons. When I went down to the water to talk to JT, they were still really upset about the challenge. But, we moved on. We had a guy alliance from day two, and when I tried to make an alliance with Joe and Sydney they thought I was being sneaky.Gordon: That does sound sneaky.Spencer: Well, we re-upped the guy alliance as the priority alliance in the tribe, and we were getting ready to get rid of the girls. Joe went and told Sydney it was going to be either me or her, so they should turn on me. They made it look like it was because I was bad at the challenges, but there was a lot they didn’t show.

Gordon: Maybe if you had lost a tooth in the challenge they’d think you were trying hard.Spencer: Yeah, maybe if they thought I was caring at all. Because I must’ve not been concerned at all. I wasn’t trying, I gave no effort…C’mon. I’m a terrible outfielder.

Gordon: When Sydney asked if there were any girls you liked, was she fishing or was she completely oblivious to your homosexuality?Spencer: She was definitely fishing. She was the only one who suspected anything on my tribe. Cause at night I’d sleep on one side of her and Joe would sleep on the other side, and Joe would always cuddle. And I like to be by myself when I sleep, so she looked at that as not responding to her. At one point she asked the other guys on the tribe if they thought I was gay. And they said, “Oh no, give him a break. He’s young.”Gordon: Oh, so if someone doesn’t want to cuddle with Sydney then they’re automatically gay?Spencer: I think she was going off of how receptive JT and Joe were to her flirting and I really wasn’t. She’s great, and there’s nothing arrogant about her.

Gordon: Did JT ever give you any reason to believe that your homosexuality would be a problem?Spencer: Oh, none whatsoever. I didn’t bring it up because I know there is no upside. It can be a subconscious thing. And some Southerners can be homophobic, I’m not generalizing, I’m Southern myself. Some people thought it came across like I was ashamed of it, but that was not the case at all.

Gordon: Now I understand that you weren’t originally cast, you were an alternate. And, when someone had to leave before the show, Jeff Probst had some fun at your expense.Spencer: He played a little joke on me. He and one of the other producers came down and they were like, “Yeah, it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out for next season.” Because I was holding out hope that if I didn’t make this season I’d make 19 or the next one. But then they were like, “Because you’re going to be on this season!” I lost it. I couldn’t utter any sound. I was at Ponderosa (where the players are gathered before the game starts) so I couldn’t say anything. But it was very last minute.Gordon: So the lesson here is: never trust Jeff Probst.Spencer: (Laughs)

Gordon: Does anyone on Jalapao know about the cross-tribe alliance that Brendan and Taj have been cobbling together at Exile (not an) Island?Spencer: I don’t think anyone else in my tribe knows, besides obviously Stephen, it was never brought up to me. We wanted to keep Brendan going every time so we would know where the idol is on their tribe.

Gordon: Help us to get to know your tribemates a little better. When I say their name, give me the first thing that pops into your head. Let’s start with JT.Spencer: Leader, helpful, very outdoorsy.Gordon: Sandy?Spencer: Psycho Sandy, she’s crazy! But, she’s super fun to have around.Gordon: Stephen?Spencer: Huge vocabulary.Gordon: Joe?Spencer: Good old boy.Gordon: Sydney?Spencer: Gorgeous.Gordon: Taj?Spencer: Genuine.

Gordon: What can you tell us about Coach from your vantage point at Jalapao?Spencer: From what I saw out there, we thought he was a bit of a wimp. During the challenges, even the weight-holding challenges we were like, “Really? You’re going to put Debbie up there? And you’re going to put Tyson up there?” I mean, Tyson is a strong guy and a great athlete but for holding weight he’s very skinny. Coach would be much better, but Coach kept backing down from challenges. All these things added up, and I kicked his butt in the basketball challenge.

Gordon: So, what’s it like for someone who’s been watching “Survivor” since he was 10 years old to get the call to come on the show?Spencer: You have no idea what the adrenaline was like when they handed me my buff. I was freaking out. It was so cool. And the whole experience was unbelievable. The first three days we didn’t have any water or food, but I was like, “Yeah! The first days of ‘Survivor’ everybody starves! Yeah!” I really enjoyed it. I was disappointed that I only lasted fifteen days. But, I had a really good experience.

Gordon: What can you tell us about Coach from your vantage point at Jalapao?Spencer: From what I saw out there, we thought he was a bit of a wimp. During the challenges, even the weight-holding challenges we were like, “Really? You’re going to put Debbie up there? And you’re going to put Tyson up there?” I mean, Tyson is a strong guy and a great athlete but for holding weight he’s very skinny. Coach would be much better, but Coach kept backing down from challenges. All these things added up, and I kicked his butt in the basketball challenge.

It was the second week that the Jalapao Tribe lost the Immunity Challenge on "Survivor: Tocantins -- The Brazilian Highlands" and had to face host Jeff Probst at Tribal Council. There was a lot of plotting and scheming behind the scenes as to who would go home. When the vote was tallied, 19-year-old Spencer Duhm from Lakeland, Fla., was cast out of the Highlands.

ET: Why did you want to be on "Survivor" in the first place?

Spencer Duhm: Apparently, I am strange. I love the show. I am obsessed with it. I am not normally an outdoor person, but I am an adventurous person, so, because I am a fan of the show and I wanted to see how well I could do, I wanted to be a part of it. Even though I am not an outdoor person, I loved starving and I loved being dirty, because it was such a part of the show.

ET: You didn't look that hungry to me yet this season.

Spencer Duhm: Trust me. We were very, very hungry. About day eight or nine, we ran out of the squash we had been supplementing our meals with, so all we had left was our rice. We maybe had four little scoops of rice per person and we would eat twice a day. I lost 18 pounds in 15 days, so we were really, really, really hungry.

ET: Was being hungry the hardest part, or was there something harder?

Spencer Duhm: Hunger is never easy, because you are not used to it, but I was prepared for it, so I didn't have a problem with it. The boredom, because -- they don't show them on TV -- but there were so many days you try to occupy yourself. It is a nice balancing act between trying to rest and trying to keep your sanity. There were some days out there we didn't have anything to do all day long. We played Charades one time.

ET: What about hunting or fishing?

Spencer Duhm: We couldn't kill anything, so we couldn't hunt. But we could go fishing. The best time of day to fish was at dusk just before the sun went down, so we would normally wait all day to go fishing and then we would catch four or five fish and have a good little meal just before bed.

ET: Is not killing anything one of the rules?

Spencer Duhm: That was a rule in the area we were in, so aside from catching fish … I ate a grub worm, but if we found an animal, we couldn't kill it.

ET: If you had a do-over, would you change anything? You were talking about whether or not you should come out to your tribe on the show. Do you think that would have made a difference? Or is there something else that you think you should have done differently?

Spencer Duhm: Knowing the people and having learned more about them, I don't think they would have had a problem. I was just concerned that they could and it was high stakes. I didn't want to risk it. There was no real upside, there was only a downside, so why even bother? That was my whole thing with that. JT -- and I mentioned him in the episode -- I don't think he would have had a problem at all. As far as my strategy goes, I would have picked different people to be in an alliance with, because, obviously, the ones I was with didn't work out. But, I am glad I did what I did because I felt it would be successful. I would also learn how to catch balls in nets [Spencer's last challenge on the show]. That would have helped.

ET: I know Coach was on the other tribe, but he seems to be the controversial character this season. Did you get to know him at all?

Spencer Duhm: I did not. The only time I talked to him was at a challenge and he was on the post opposite me and we would have very short exchanges there. But aside from that, we didn't know him. All we knew was that it seemed at challenges that he would never take the first step up, so we thought he was weak. We actually discussed that at our camp. We thought it was odd that he never stepped up for challenges, because he looked like a strong guy.

ET: What's it like to watch it on TV?

Spencer Duhm: It is actually very normal. I thought it would be weird to see myself on TV. I thought it would be creepy and I would hate seeing myself, but it has been great. On TV, I see my camp and I am thinking, "That is not what it looked like." I saw it from a different angle. It is kind of weird, but it is cool.

ET: Now that you are watching, you know there was a secret alliance between Taj and members of the other tribe. Did you have an inkling of that when you were there?

Spencer Duhm: Her alliance didn't cross my mind. Her having the Immunity Idol did. We all wondered about that. We knew she might be creating friendships because we kept sending the same person -- Brendan -- to Exile Island because we wanted to know who on their tribe had the idol if we merged. We wanted to know, "Hey, he is the only one who had a chance to get it." Also, we wanted to send somebody strong, so it would weaken their tribe.

ET: What was the hardest part of readjusting to being home?

Spencer Duhm: Having my stomach readjust to normal food. That took about six days. I won't get into details because it probably isn't good for press, but my stomach would not take food very well. I would shove food down my throat, then I would take a breather for five minutes, because my stomach was really small, and I would think, "I can eat a little more" to the point where I would get sick. I would do it at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I didn't learn.

ET: You were the youngest player. What advice would you give to next season's youngest player?

Spencer Duhm: I don't think the age thing was so much a factor. I would not be so inclined to trust everybody at face value. I tended to trust them more than other people did. For instance, Taj was very genuine and she came back from Exile Island and she had a bad reaction to some bugs out there, so she was eaten up and looked uncomfortable, and she was, "Exile is not that bad." Don't be as trusting as you would be inclined because, obviously, we have less life experience, but overall I don't think age was an issue other than they thought I was devious because I was a big fan and that put a target on my back.

"Survivor: Tocantins -- The Brazilian Highlands" returns on Wednesday, March 25 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

For the first four episodes of Survivor: Tocantins, Spencer Duhm, at nineteen-years-old the youngest Survivor competitor ever, mostly flew under the radar as his team did fairly well in the challenges. Spencer worked hard, didn’t make any enemies, and also kept the fact he was a gay man from his teammates. Therefore it was rather surprising when he was voted off his tribe on Thursday’s episode. Indeed, given his age, fitness, and devotion to the game, many had pegged him to go much further.

AfterElton.com caught up with him the day after his elimination to discuss his strategy, his relationship with previous Survivor winner Todd Herzog, as well as his controversial statements about what kind of gay guy he considers himself.

AfterElton.com: Hi Spencer, thanks so much for talking to us.Spencer Duhm: Thank you.

AE: Let's talk about some remarks you made to RealityBlurred.com before you went on the show. You said things like, "I don’t come across like most of the gay guys...I won’t be Todd, I surely won’t be Coby. I won’t be Charlie." And "I talked to my parents and I was like, ‘Mom, do I sound like that?’ she was like, ‘Sweetheart, no, I would never let you go out in public if you sounded like that.’ Thank God." These comments really offended many of our readers. They felt as if there were examples of internalized homophobia. How would you respond to that and do you still feel that way?

SD: Well, okay, first of all, let me talk about my mom. She got a lot of flak for that. The way I said it and the way it actually happened were different. All the things I had her say when I quoted her, she didn't actually say. I jokingly said, "Mom, you wouldn't let me go out in public, right?" And she said, "No, Sweetheart." It was all me there. I didn't know it was going to be printed, so I wasn't being factual, but she got a lot of flak for saying nothing, just agreeing with what I said. I felt horrible for that. She's my mom! She's not like that.

Obviously, though, when I read that, especially the stuff about Charlie, I was mortified. My jaw dropped and I was yelling at my computer, screaming, "Shut up, Spencer! Shut up! Why are you saying that?" I've apologized. It's just one of those things where it happens and you learn from it. You realize the press always has that tape recorder going.

I'd never want to offend people like that, it was never my goal, and I obviously wish I'd never said that stuff, but it just sort of comes out. I don't have any homophobia. I've just had experiences in my life where people have judged me because I'm gay and they immediately assume I'm a fairy or something. And I'm like, "No, we have gay people who aren't..." Again, not to use a word that might offend people or get me in trouble again, but you know... fruity, or whatever, but there are some of us who aren't. I feel like every time people find out you're gay they just assume you're going to be a drag queen or something. That irritates me because I don't stereotype other people and I don't want to be stereotyped myself. That's where that all came from. I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone but I can understand why it did. I wish I hadn't said those things. I don't like to be mean to people I've never even met, like Charlie, but there's nothing else I can do about it now.

AE: You never came out to your tribe, which you discussed in interviews on the last episode. You said, "In the culture that we live in, there's not much to gain from people finding out you're gay." Obviously you're out in your real life, since you spoke so openly about being gay in the interviews, so were you referring specifically to the culture in the context of the game, or do you feel that way in general?

SD: I feel like there's still some prejudice out there. I've experienced and I know others have, too. I mean, we've come a long way, but this is a social game and you don't want to give anyone even a subconscious reason to want to get rid of you or have something against you. You don't want to give them that. That's why I didn't tell anybody, it wasn't because I was ashamed of it or because I thought there would be prejudice, I just didn't know.

Until you tell them, you don't know. It's out of your control. They didn't give me any reason to think they'd be prejudiced. I feel like in some of the interviews they've done, they've gotten flak. 'Oh, were they homophobes?' No, they weren't. I just didn't know, so there was no reason to tell them.

AE: You mentioned specifically that you were worried that JT might be homophobic because he was Southern. Have you had any personal experiences that have led you to believe that Southerners are less tolerant than people from other areas?

SD: Oh, yeah! I mean, I can't tie anything specifically. I don't have one thing in my life that I always refer back to, but definitely I hear comments and slurs all the time. You keep your mouth shut for the most part, there's no reason to create a big scene or anything, but yeah.

I grew up in areas where we have a lot of Southern people. I have nothing against them at all, I don't mean to generalize, but they as a society I think they tend to be less accepting of gay people. That's just the way they are. That's the only reason when we first got on the trek and everything and I see JT's a Southern guy. And I thought, "Okay, maybe I can't tell him." He was honestly great, a great kid. I loved hanging around him, but I just thought he might not be the most tolerant person, just based on my personal experiences.

AE: Did you get the sense that anyone suspected? Sydney almost seemed to be fishing for information in the scene they showed.

SD: Yeah, Sydney definitely did suspect that I was gay because JT and Joe were very receptive to her flirting and I wasn't. I didn't realize it was that obvious that I wasn't. I had a great relationship with her, but I just wasn't flirting with her. At night, Joe would sleep on one side of her and I'd sleep on the other side, and Joe and Sydney would usually cuddle and I wouldn't. She took that as me being gay. She even asked the other guys, and they were like, "No, he's just really young. He doesn't want to flirt. He's not comfortable with it." So she was like, "Oh, OK." But she definitely suspected that I was. She was the only one.

AE: If you had it to do over again, would you do anything differently? Do you think you'd come out to your tribe?

SD: Honestly, I don't think that would have changed a thing. I don't think, knowing the people the way I do now, I don't think it would have mattered to them one bit, but not knowing, and not wanting to trip up the one chance I get to be on the show, I didn't want to have something like that change people's perspective of me. I don't think I'd change anything as far as that goes, or my strategy. They didn't show the alliances that I made, but I was comfortable with them. It just happened that they turned on me before I could turn on them. It's just part of the game. It happens. I wouldn't do a single thing differently except maybe figure out a way to make it last 39 days. [Laughs]

AE: Okay, on to happier topics! We heard from Todd [Herzog] this week and he let us know the two of you are dating. Congratulations!

SD: Thanks, but I know where you're going with this so I'll just go ahead and tell you I'd rather not talk about my personal life.

AE: Okay, then back to the show, I was shocked that you were voted off so early. I thought for sure you'd make it at least to the jury.

SD: Hey, me too! [Laughs]

AE: What happened with that final challenge? It seemed like you guys had it in the bag and then it all fell apart.

SD: Well, like I said last night, it was pathetic how I performed. I had played baseball when I was younger, but I was not the best baseball player. I couldn't catch fly balls. I would say I didn't perform well, and I'm not laying blame, but the other people on my tribe didn't perform well either. JT was the only who scored any points. It was just that I got scored on by Tyson, who is tall and very athletic. He was great in all the challenges.

Taj got scored on just as many times by Brendan, but because I lost the last couple points it made it look like it was my fault we lost, and that's where the frustration came from. I can understand that, but it came across like they laid it all on me. Stephen and Sydney could have nothing against them because they were shooting the balls, and Joe and Taj were playing and Taj got scored on. I knew they were laying it all on me, but I couldn't be defensive and say "Blame it on so-and-so," because that's going to piss them off even more. I just figured I'd have to take my lumps there and be apologetic, and I was. I was very disappointed in myself. I'm super competitive, and not doing well, not helping my tribe win was a real shock to me.

AE: Why wasn't Sydney considered? Do you think the male-dominated team kept her because she's pretty?

SD: Sydney was considered. When I went down to the water, we got the guy's alliance, and she was going to be targeted either last night or the next time. It was kind of like, "Who’s going first?" I was thinking Taj which is why I voted for Taj, but Sydney and Joe were really tight. I guess you can blame it on that. He went to Sydney and said, "It either you or Spencer. If you don't turn on him, it could be you." That's when they went to JT and Stephen, and that's what it was about. It wasn't about the game.

They were frustrated with me but after talking it out we'd totally gotten over the whole challenge thing and were ready to move on. I think they were aware that, looking at the other challenges, I performed really well. I helped the tribe. So going on just one, they were so, I'm not going to say stupid, but they weren't that naďve. They understand the in the context of the game, a challenge like that can happen, but was overall beneficial to the tribe.

AE: What did you think of the new twists this year: two people going to Exile Island each time and two immunity idols floating around?

SD: I think it's a great twist. I'm not a huge fan of having two idols in the game. I'm really not a huge fan of the hidden immunity idol anyway, that's just me coming from a fan perspective. It changes the game too much from where it started. Taj told us there was only one idol and it was on Exile Island and she thinks Brendan found it and all that stuff. We didn't know whether to believe her or not, but I think she's done a great job as far as creating a cross-tribal alliance. Although, it's really annoying that the alliance has gotten so much airtime. It's left nothing else to show from either camp after challenges and Tribal [council], but I do think it's great and added quite a bit.

AE: You mentioned earlier the alliances you made on the show? We never saw any of that, so tell us about them. What were they?

SD: Yeah, the didn't really show anything from Jalapao, which was really, really frustrating. Quite a bit went on. On Day Two, the guys were building the shelter and the guys made an informal alliance there, which later, the next day, we all agreed to have a formal alliance. In doing so, I was aware that I could be the first guy out if the four guys made it to the last four on the tribe or in the game, whatever. I knew I could perceived as the weakest guy. So when I was aware of that, I went to Sydney and Joe who I'd bonded with on the trek, and said, "Hey, you want to create a three-person alliance?"

At that point I was thinking that Sydney was our strongest girl, even though Taj proved later that she was by far the strongest in the challenges. I thought she'd be the last girl standing, so I figured okay, when we get down to five, I'll secure myself down to three because I'll have Joe and Sydney already in my back pocket and we'll surprise the other two guys. I was just trying to save myself, I wasn't trying to be sneaky. I was just concerned I'd be the first guy. So yeah, there were alliances.

Later on, I guess it was obvious that Sydney, Joe, and I had an alliance, because we hung out, apparently, quite a bit. So JT found out about it, he told Stephen, Stephen went to Taj, and that's why the last episode with Sandy, in the water when they were trying to target Sydney, they said Joe and Spencer might be really upset. Not because we were so attached to her, but because we had an alliance and they knew about it. They were trying to get us before we could get them. That's what went down at Jalapao. They didn't show a whole bunch of it.

AE: What are you doing now? What's next for you?

SD: I'm in school. I'm just going back to my regular life. I have no interest in benefiting from this or exploiting it in any way. I'm back in school now, in spring semester. I'm going to make up classes over the summer that I missed when I had to leave for the show. Just working on my degree and grad school and all that stuff.

AE: Well, good luck with all that, and thanks so much for talking to us.

Although we haven't seen any of the tribe members on Survivor Tocantins resort to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in any of the challenges thus far, the competition is heating both mentally and physically for the Timbira and Jalapao tribes. In recent weeks much of the Survivor focus has been on the simmering Tocantins dissension within the Timbira tribe while the seemingly less cutthroat Jalapao members have been enjoying a more peaceful time as a collective. Now, however, the Jalapao tribe is beginning to crack, as secrets are beginning to surface, the grip of the game is staring to tighten, and some tribe members getting more paranoid about their fate in Brazil.

With Survivor Tocantins shifting gears to a higher level of play, 19-year old Lakeland, Florida student Spencer Duhm found himself increasingly becoming a target after getting dizzy in the reward challenge and then falling victim to his inability to master catching slingshot balls with a net on a stick. Although Spencer thought he made amends with his fellow tribe mates, also forming an all-guy alliance, the youngest Jalapao couldn't change his fate when the votes were counted at Tribal Council and Jeff Probst extinguished his torch.

The next morning we tracked down with the now ex - Survivor Tocantins competitor to find out why he didn't do more to plead his case, what went wrong in the net challenge, and what he thinks of his former Jalapao mate Taj and Coach of the Timbira tribe.

THE DEADBOLT: Why didn’t you reveal that you were gay?

SPENCER DUHM: Because in a social game like that I felt like everyone looks for a silly reason, or any little reason, to separate you from the group for whatever they want in their head. Sometimes people can have a prejudice against different types of minorities. So I thought, I'm not even going to bring it up. I’m not going to make it an issue. If they ask me, I’ll totally tell them. But if not, I’m not even going to worry about it. And I wasn't, honestly, because it never became an issue. I was surprised that they even showed that interview where I talked about it.

THE DEADBOLT: Did you ever think that it could’ve went the other way and they wouldn’t have voted you off because of that? Say, where they thought it would make them look bad for voting you off because of that?

SPENCER: Oh, no. I never thought that. It was just like the other tribe. They voted off the two African Americans and I’m sure they never thought, ‘Oh, man, we’re going to look like racists.' So, yeah, I don’t think that was a problem at all.

THE DEADBOLT: So what happened in the challenge with the nets and the balls?

SPENCER: I just couldn’t get the hang of it. It’s like when I played baseball as a kid. I was a terrible outfielder. I don’t judge fly balls very well. So, yeah, it was just very bad. And the weird thing is, J.T. scored all of our points, and Brendan scored just as many points on Taj as Tyson scored on me, and Joe didn’t score any points either. So I thought it was a little unfair that I was targeted just because of the challenge. I was the only one held responsible. But people - like I said - look for anything, for whatever reason, to vote you out or to target you. And for some reason I was more responsible than everybody else. So I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I was terrible, and I knew I was, and I felt bad that that was why they were targeting me.

THE DEADBOLT: I wasn’t thinking about Joe. You’re right, everybody else wasn’t doing very much either.

SPENCER: On, no. J.T. scored every point for us and none of the other people on the tribe did anything. But again, I was the one singled out and blamed, which I thought was unfair. Again, I like everybody on my tribe, I’m not trying to throw them under the bus, they were launching the balls so they were not at risk at all for performing poorly. It seemed a little unfair. But that’s okay.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you have any regrets at not trying to work it or plead your case?

SPENCER: [laughs] They didn’t show any of it. It makes it look like I’m just, ‘Oh, you’re going to vote me out? I really hope you don’t.’ And it looks really horrible. But I had an alliance with Joe and Sydney and I had an all-guys alliance. Once I went down to the water and I talked to J.T. and we got over the whole challenge thing, all four guys talked about keeping all of the guys and voting off Taj or Sydney.

Taj was mainly the one we were talking about because she had been the plan after Sandy. So that’s why I ended up voting for her but Sydney’s name was brought up. Joe went to Sydney and said, ‘Hey, it could either be you or Spencer tonight. So if you don’t turn on ...’ - because he was really close to Sydney - and he said, ‘You don’t turn on Spencer then it could be you.’ So that’s why they turned on me.

They went back to JT and Stephen and they were like, ‘Okay, fine, we can switch it back to Spencer.’ And Stephen had always been planting information in Sydney’s head for about a week, saying that I was really devious and I was going to manipulate her and vote her out and switch, all of this stuff, and I couldn’t be trusted. So I guess all of that whispering stuff. And he finally planted the seed in her head and got her to turn on me. So what they showed me getting voted out because of the challenge was not the case at all. It looks like I’m like, ‘Man, I really hope you don’t vote me out. I’m an asset ...’ And there was so much more that went on and it makes me look like a lazy super-fan or a pathetic super-fan.

THE DEADBOLT: We didn’t see any of the Stephen and Sydney stuff.

SPENCER: I know, and they didn’t show any of the alliances on our tribe, because alliances were formed on day two. They act like our tribe was happy go lucky and we just like to go fishing all of the time, we like to eat grubworms, and we have no problems. We didn’t really have any problems but there were alliances going on the entire time, and they didn’t show any of it, which is fine because it wasn’t a bad edit. But it was just the happy 19-year-old who’s just very thrilled to be there when there was so much more going on.

THE DEADBOLT: How tough was the spinning challenge?

SPENCER: [laughs] It was like wearing beer goggles. I obviously handled it a little better than some people. I had better balance I guess. But no, it was really really difficult. I had heard that when you get spun around, apparently, if you look at a point, the same point every time you make a rotation, you can keep from getting dizzy. So I tried to do that for the first three rotations. But I was going too fast that I just gave up and I got up very dizzy. But once I put my foot on the log and kind of shook it out I was fine, and it took me two times to get across. But, yeah, it was pretty difficult. It was fun to watch, though.

THE DEADBOLT: After Taj revealed that her husband was Eddie George and everyone got excited, I remember J.T. saying that she was already a millionaire and didn’t need the money. Did the tribe ever discuss that as a reason for voting her off?

SPENCER: The plan was, because I was obviously with the four guys and that whole Sydney and Joe thing was an overlapping person with me as far as the alliances go, obviously that was the final five people I expected to have in our tribe. So Sandy was obviously supposed to go first, and then Sydney was going next, and then Taj was supposed to go next. So that’s why when Taj blew up. I thought, ‘Okay, she was supposed to go. Maybe this will still help usher her out the door and I will be safe.’

But the reason it was never brought up again about her having the million dollars, or her being married to a former NFL player, was just because - J.T. obviously mentioned it, and it was discussed a little bit, but personally I don’t find something like that a reason to target somebody. I can find reasons within the game to target somebody. Say she was in the final two with somebody I found equally deserving and I was about to flip a coin, that is maybe when I would say, ‘Okay, well, she already has this lifestyle that makes her comfortable. I rather help change this person’s life instead of just adding to her life.’ Maybe in that situation I would use it against her. But aside from that, I don’t see why it would be something you’d hold against somebody.

THE DEADBOLT: Even though he wasn’t on your tribe, what are your thoughts of Coach?

SPENCER: Again, I’m just going to talk just what I did out there because we had another opinion about him. We learned after a few challenges that he must be really weak, because he would make comments when Jeff would ask him a question. You know, before the challenges or after? And he made the comment about how they had this eye communication and how he was guiding everybody and all of that B.S. So we were like, ‘He’s full of himself,’ which we could pick up from a distance. So that’s pretty bad. In challenges he wouldn’t hold the weight, he let Tyson, who’s obviously skinnier, very athletic, but not really built to hold a lot of weight. He just seemed to be really weak in a bunch of challenges and wanted to take a back seat. That’s where I was just like, ‘Man, he seems so big. He must be trying to hide himself or have some sort of confidence issues or something.’ We were really perplexed by that.

THE DEADBOLT: I noticed that Sierra had tons of bug bites on her. What were the insects like?

SPENCER: I was fortunate. But because I didn’t have pants, my legs would get pretty torn up. But as far as holding up, I was luckier. Usually I would wear my shirt at night and use my buff and other things to try and keep bugs off of me, especially when we got the blanket. That really helped because we were able to cover up. Taj was really torn up because of Exile. Joe had it really bad on his back. Stephen’s legs were really torn up. But Sydney was okay, I was okay, and J.T. wasn’t too bad. I think some people just had a worse reaction than other people and I think Exile definitely took a toll on the people that went out there.

We attended a Party with the Survivors at Celebration FL and I think he hardly left the dance floor the whole night (including dancing with "Sarge" and "Big Tom", which was a hoot). He and Todd are a sweet couple.